Georgia HOBY Newsletter:
Fifty-First Edition, January 14, 2016
Featured Alumnus: Abraham Johnson '13
I feel like there are three kinds of HOBY stories
- Some people invest during the weekend, it changes their lives for the better, and they are satisfied with just being an alum
- Some people don’t invest themselves during the weekend, they continue their life the same way as before, and they don’t get the value of HOBY
- Some people go to HOBY, it radically changes their lives for the better, and they find any way to get back to the seminar for years to come because it’s truly outstanding!
I’m a very proud member of the third group. This summer will mark my fourth time at the weekend and I could not be more excited. HOBY means so many things to so many different people, and it’s such a deeply personal experience that I find it a little hard to summarize. The biggest advice I can give to my fellow HOBY alumni is this: find how you can use the skills at HOBY in a way that serve both your community, while also serving yourself.
Before I went to HOBY, I had always wanted to try theatre. Because of nerves and not really having any theatre friends, I had never really gotten up the courage to go out for it. Throughout the seminar weekend, we got these little opportunities to watch and participate in performances: from bigger things like the Talent Show, to smaller opportunities like sizzling and singing in front of fellow ambassadors. After meeting ambassadors who were incredibly talented and accomplished in their own school-theatre-bubbles, I left the weekend with a new perspective. Since then, I spent the next three years pursuing theatre-- but not in the self-fulfilling way that some theatre people pursue. Theatre has absolutely been a rewarding experience for me, but the thing that really stuck with me, relating to HOBY, is the opportunity to apply the seminar’s skills to just about any passion that the ambassadors have. Community-building doesn’t have to look like can-drives and car washes for charity. In theatre, I apply HOBY’s leadership skills whenever directing a show, taking direction, or working behind the scenes. The social justice aspect of HOBY has been applied incredibly when thinking about inherent racism and exclusion in the theatre community.
Before I went to HOBY, I had always wanted to try theatre. Because of nerves and not really having any theatre friends, I had never really gotten up the courage to go out for it. Throughout the seminar weekend, we got these little opportunities to watch and participate in performances: from bigger things like the Talent Show, to smaller opportunities like sizzling and singing in front of fellow ambassadors. After meeting ambassadors who were incredibly talented and accomplished in their own school-theatre-bubbles, I left the weekend with a new perspective. Since then, I spent the next three years pursuing theatre-- but not in the self-fulfilling way that some theatre people pursue. Theatre has absolutely been a rewarding experience for me, but the thing that really stuck with me, relating to HOBY, is the opportunity to apply the seminar’s skills to just about any passion that the ambassadors have. Community-building doesn’t have to look like can-drives and car washes for charity. In theatre, I apply HOBY’s leadership skills whenever directing a show, taking direction, or working behind the scenes. The social justice aspect of HOBY has been applied incredibly when thinking about inherent racism and exclusion in the theatre community.
This is what I’m trying to say: whether you’re in theatre, or sports, or other academic focuses, find a way to combine HOBY’s lessons with your own passions. This is the most realistic way to keep that HOBY high going past the seminar. In the words of Howard Thurman, “Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
HOBY Info:
Amazon Smile
- If your shop at Amazon, the switch to Amazon Smile (https://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2861279). It is the exact same website, but 0.5% of purchases will be donated to a charity of your choice.
- Choose Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (Atlanta, GA) as your charity!
Social Networking!!!
- Find us on Facebook: GA HOBY Alumni
- Follow us on Twitter: @GA_HOBY
- Follow us on Instagram: hoby_georgia
- Follow us on Vine: Georgia HOBY
- Follow us on SnapChat: hobygeorgia
- Check our the website: www.gahoby.org
- Check out our YouTube channel: HOBY Georgia
- Check out http://hobycheers.wikidot.com/list-of-hoby-cheers for awesome cheers
Hours
- Keep logging them! Can you accomplish the 100 Hour Challenge? Georgia HOBY knows that you can. Here is the place to do so: https://reg.hoby.org/HOBYL4S/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fHOBYL4S%2f
- Need ideas for Volunteering projects? Email gahobyalumniadvisor@gmail.com, check the HOBY website: hoby.org, and/or research into what your community needs!
- How far has your Chain Reaction of Kindness reached?
This Blog
- If you would like post a "My Favorite HOBY Experience" in the future on this blog, then email gahobyfundraising@gmail.com also with your response!
- Be on the lookout for the next Newsletter or My Favorite HOBY Experience Post
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